Brake-beam for railway-cars.



PATENTED OCT. 9, 1906.

s. AQcRONE. BRAKE BEAM FOR RAILWAY cARsi APPLICATION FILED APR- 14. 1906.

INVENT'OI? ATTORNEY m M w 'rns Nomils PETERS ad, wAsHmowm-n. c

UNITED STATES SETH A. CRONE, OF NEW YORK. N. Y.

BRAKE-BEAM FOR RAI LWAY-CARS- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 9, 1906.

Application filed April 14:, 1906. Serial No. 311,643-

T0 at whom it may concern:

Be it known that L-SETH A. CRoNE, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of New York city, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Brake- Beams for Railway-Cars, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to improvements in brake-beams for railway-cars and it consists in the novel features and construction herein after described, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

Brake-beams of the class to which my invention pertains comprise a rolled bodybeam of suitable length, brake-heads of suitable construction on the ends thereof, and a fulcrum for the brake-lever; and. my inventlon has for its object to produce a novel fulcrum for use in such beams, said fulcrum being efficient and capable of being firmly and quickly applied to the beam.

My present invention pertains more especially to improvements in the class of brakebeam fulcrums described and claimed in Letters Patent of the United States numbered, respectively, 720, 676, dated February 17, 1903, and 731,668 granted June 23, 1903; and its object is to produce a novel forged-metal fulcrum having its parts bent into the required shape, the parts of the fulcrum while being given such shape not being materially stretched or weakened, my invention contemplating the manufacture of the fulcrum in two separate parts without during the bend-.

ing operations stretching or in any other manner weakening or unduly punishing the same.

The invention will be fully understood from the detailed description hereinafter p1e sented, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a detached top view of a fulcrum constructed in accordance with and embodying the invention, the two parts of the fulcrum being shown in the position they occupy when upon a brake-beam. Fig. 2 is a detached top view of the inner or beam member of the fulcrum, Fig. 2 corresponding with Fig. 1 with the jaw member of the fulcrum removed. Fig. 3 is a detached top view of the jaw member of the fulcrum. Fig. 4 is an outer end view of the complete fulcrum,taken from the right-hand end of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view on the dotted line 5 5 of Fig. 4 through the base portion of the beam member of the fulcrum and is presented to illustrate the seat formed therein to receive the inner portion of the aw member of the fulcrum. Fig. 6 is a transverse section through a brake-beam having the fulcrum applied thereto, the fulcrum being shown in side elevation; and Fig. 7 is a detached inner end view of the beam member of the fulcrum.

In the drawings, 10 designates a portion of the usual body-beam, and 11 the novel fulcrum of my invention, which is applied centrally on one edge of the beam and comprises a beam member 12 and lever or aw member 14, each being in one integral piece of forged metal folded at about its middle portion, and the two members being brought or hooked together atsuch folded portions thereof, so that the sides of the beam member project in one direction to engage the body-beam and the sides of the lever or jaw member project in the opposite direction to receive between them the usual brake-lever, (not shown,) said lever being usually mounted upon a pin extended through apertures 15 in the sides 16 17 of said member 14..

The member 12 is formed from an initiallystraight bar of forged metal, said bar being bent and folded to form a diagonally-disposed loop comprising a central straight section 18 and side sections or members 19, the said straight section 18 being extended on a diagonal line, Fig. 7, with respect to the beam 10 and said side sections or members 19 com prising flanges 2O 21, adapted to closely engage the body -beam 10 and formed by the end portions of the bar being bent inwardly from the opposite ends of the diagonal sec- -tion 18 on lines parallel with the longitudinal edges of said beam, whereby the flanges 21 become parallel with the faces of the web of the body-beam and are carried in a direction from and out of trans verse alinement with each other, which is one of the results accomplished by my invention. The formation of the beam member 12 in the manner shown and described is advantageous because of the separation of the flanges 21 from transverse alinement with each other, whereby two rivets are required for fastening said member to the body-beam, and also from the fact that the flanges 20 21 are conveniently produced without unduly stretching or weakening the metal, which is one of the prime objects accomplished by my invention. I preferably form in the diagonal section 18 a seat 22 to receive the inner end of the jaw member 14:, this seat IIO 22 being simply a recess pressed into and eX- tending transversely of said section 18 and forming edge shoulders 23, Fig. 5, adapted to engage the edges 24, Fig. 3, of said jaw member 14.

The jaw member 14 is formed from an initially-straight bar of forged metal folded at about its middle portions to form a straight section andside members or sections 16 17, the latter being diagonally disposed with respect to the body-beam and at their outer ends being sufliciently separated from each other to properly receive between them the brake-lever. The section 25 of the member 14 is long enough to straddle the diagonalv section 18 of the member 12, and from its end edges the sides 16 17 bow inwardly toward each other for a certain distance and then extend on parallel lines, as shown in Fig. 3. It will be observed that the jaw member 14 is formed to afford the angularlydisposed sides 16 17 without previously off- 1 setting the bar and by simple bending operations not calculated to unduly weaken or stretch the metal, the section 25 being straight and the sides 16 17 being paralle with the end edges of said section 25, as the a dotted lines in F1g. 4 indicate.

flange of the body-beam and the diagonal section 18 of the member 12, with its edges 24 in engagement with and confined between the shoulders 23 of the seat or recess 22. In

' instances where the same may be deemed expedient or desirable the sections 18 25 of the members 12 14 may be welded together or secured together by rivets passing through them, whereby the due relation of the members 12 14 with each other may bemaintained. The seat or recess 22 is adapted and intended to maintain the due relation of the member 14 to the member 12-that is, to pre vent any turning or swiveling of the member 14 when in use; but if it is not desired to employ the seat or recess 22 the two members comprising the fulcrum may, as above explained, be welded or riveted together or otherwise arranged, as may be preferred. Initially the fulcrum is in two parts, each separately formed from a plain straight bar without upsetting the bar at its ends and without unduly stretching the metal in the bending operations.

In prior patents showing forged-metal fulcrums formed from bars the body-beam flanges have been parallel, or nearly so, with each other, considered transversely on vertical lines through the body-beam, and this has resulted in two features, the first being that a single rivet is used to secure the fulcrum to the beam, whereby the tendency of the fulcrum to swivel on the rivet is not effectually overcome, and the second being that the inner end portions of the bar or bars are carried so abruptly inwardly from the diagonal sides for the brake-lever toward a longitudinal center line through the fulcrum that the metal becomes stretched on diagonally opposite edges or that the operation of offsetting the inner ends of the bar or bars in opposite directions, as shown in the aforesaid Patent No. 731,668, must be resorted to to prevent that result. In accordance with my present invention I form the fulcrum of two independent plainbars of forged metal and secure the fulcrum to the beam by two independent separated rivets, and I avoid both undue stretch of the metal and the necessity of offsetting the bars.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A brake-beam fulcrum of forged metal 1 comprising angularly-disposed sides apertured to receive the brake-lever pin, and a beam member supporting said sides and comprising the diagonally-disposed section from whose ends the end portions of the bar are bent inwardly on lines parallel with the edges of the beam to form the beam-flanges, whereby said flanges become spread apart; substantially as set forth.

2. A brake-beam fulcrum of forged metal comprising the angularly-disposed jaw member and the beam member se arately formed from integral bars folded at t eir middle portions and at said portions brought together on lines crossing each other, said jaw member comprising the middle section 25 and sides 16, 17 and said beam member com prising the diagonally-disposed section from whose ends the end portions of the bar are bent inwardly on lines parallel with the edges of the beam to form the beam-flanges, whereby said flanges become spread apart; substantially as set forth.

j 3. A brake-beam fulcrum of forged metal comprising the angularly-disposed jaw member and the beam member separately formed from integral bars folded at their middle portions and at saidportions brought together on lines crossing each other, said jaw member comprisin sides 16, 17 w ich extend inwardly toward each other adjacent to said section and then continue on parallel lines to receive between them the brake-lever, and said beam member comprising the diagonally-disposed section from whose ends the end portions of the bar are bent inwardly on lines parallel with the edges of the beam to form the beamflanges, whereby said flanges become spread apart; substantlally as set forth.

4. A brake-beam fulcrum of forged metal the middle section 25 and comprising the angularly-disposed j aw member and the beam member separately formed from integral bars folded at their middle portions and at said portions brought together on lines crossing each other, said jaw member comprising the middle section 25 and sides 16, 17 and said beam member comprising the diagonally-disposed section recessed to engage opposite ed es of said section 25 and from whose ends t e end portions of the bar are bent inwardly on lines parallel with the edges of the beam to form the beamflanges, whereby said flanges become spread apart; substantially as set forth.

SETH A. CRONE.

Witnesses:

QHAs. O. GILL, i r ARTHUR MARION. 

